Page 92 of Not Part of the Plan
“Your stepmother,” Emma corrected.
“My stepmother,” Niko nodded. He didn’t need to tell Emma that part of the reason for their visit with his family was so he could wipe the slate clean with his father’s new wife. She’d already guessed and was fully in his corner. It wasn’t that there’d been tension between Niko and his father. Almost worse, there had been an impenetrable layer of disinterest as his father built a new life. Things would change, starting with this visit.
“Tomorrow you’ll be accompanying me to a photo shoot where you’ll be so overcome by my genius that you’ll barely be able to refrain from tearing off my clothes. But we’ll enhance the torture by going out for a traditional New York date, dinner and drinks, and delay the gratification until we’re in danger of being arrested for lewd conduct.”
“You do make interesting plans,” she teased. But the catch of her breath told him she was already anticipating a playful night of flirting, touching.
He leaned in closer, lips brushing her ear. “Then I’ll take you home and make love to you in my bed until the sun comes up.” Emma trembled against him, and he went achingly hard.
Her hand squeezed his. “Then what?”
“Then we sleep, eat, and make love until the show.”
The smile spread her lips slow and sexy. “You sure know how to show a girl a good time.”
He traced a finger over her cheek and down the knife-edge of her jaw.
“I can’t wait to have you all to myself,” he admitted. “No brewery, no Blue Moon, just you and me.”
“So there won’t be any children sprinting through your front door while we’re naked?”
“None.” His teeth grazed her earlobe, and Emma sucked in a breath.
“You’d better behave yourself while we’re on public transportation,” she hissed, gripping his hand.
He shifted gears again from intense to playful. “How was the house you saw this week? I noticed you didn’t say anything about it. How terrible was it?”
Emma felt herself pulling away, tightening up. “Oh, it was fine. Nice actually.”Really nice, she reminded herself. “But I think it was too big for just me.”
“I seem to recall you being worried about that before,” Niko teased.
“You’re an ass,” Emma gasped.
“That wasn’t the body part I was talking about.”
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Niko’s apartment was everything Emma had fantasized it would be from the concrete floors to the soaring ceilings. It was an industrial space, made more comfortable with leather couches, colorful area rugs, and spectacular art on the brick walls.
“Wow,” she murmured, admiring the view from the windows. “Judging from this space and that view, you’re a bigger deal than I gave you credit for.”
He came up behind her and tugged her hips back against him. “Baby, I’m the biggest deal,” he joked.
She felt his steel-hard length of his erection at the small of her back. “I already know exactly how big your deal is. What I need to know is do we have time to enjoy your deal before dinner tonight?”
They had time and made good use of it. Staring up at the ceiling from the acre of bed, Emma stretched her sated body. She’d declined to join him in the shower, knowing full well it would lead to another round and then they’d be late. He was nervous about reconnecting with his father, and she thought it was incredibly sweet. Did it mean something that he’d brought her to meet his father? He was bringing her with him for a very personal, very private reconciliation? It felt important.
She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. And now she was nervous. Emma skimmed a hand over her belly. This was a big deal and quite possibly a misstep. She’d met Mason’s parents, but, at the time, that had made sense. The way their relationship had carefully progressed in the right direction, meeting them was proper timing.
She’d packed carefully for this trip, planning for each outing and adjusting according to the weather report. Yet, she’d failed to actually consider the significance of the trip. Niko was introducing her to family and work associates and friends. Didn’t he understand how serious that was? How could she not take it seriously?
They were just seeing where things went. There were no future plans, no team goals. This wasn’t the step they should be taking at this stage.
The water in the shower shut off and a naked, wet Niko appeared in the doorway. “Stop panicking.”
“What makes you think—”
“I could hear your brain working all the way in here,” he said, giving her that crooked half grin. “You’re worrying about what this means and what happens next.”
